Tanzania: The building of a covered terrace at a primary school, Marimeri, Marangu Mtoni

Marimeri is situated in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro and is lush and tropical due to its relatively cool climate and the rainy seasons it experiences. These rainy seasons, whilst helping to provide a basic agricultural income to the local Chagga Tribe, pose serious problems with regard to buildings and health.

The local school has been operating in cramped conditions, seasonal rains making the stairs and pathways dangerous and force the children indoors throughout the school session, this is dangerous in terms of health and welfare and not conducive to a balanced learning environment and educational attainment. Damage caused by rains to the building, has been eroding its foundations and creating difficult maintenance costs for the community. It was possible that the lack of funds for maintenance or a particularly heavy period of rainfall could have resulted in the school being washed away down the mountainside with devastating effects.

The community were unable to raise funds for a covered terrace for the school, as what little funds could be gathered were going into maintaining the current building. A local NGO, Village Education Project have been unable to provide any further funds for this project but are able to fund a fundi (craftsman) to help with the project.

Like many rural areas in Tanzania there is very little government support, teachers are only supplied by the government when a community is able to build and maintain a school for themselves. As the majority of the population in Tanzania live below the World Bank Poverty Line it can be an insurmountable challenge to communities to provide their children with even the most basic classroom facility.

Having successfully raised the necessary funds in the latter part of 2005 we are now completing the building of a verandah with Village Education Project. Volunteers both local and from the UK are providing labour and all building materials have been sourced locally.

The construction of this covered terrace will bring great benefits to the community: The school will not be subject to such extreme climatic damage but the children will have a safer, more spacious and comfortable school environment in which to learn and build better futures for themselves, their families and community